Thursday, March 31, 2016

Texas, which has the size of France, is the No. 7 grape producing and the No. 5 wine producing state in the US. By law, a wine can carry the Texas name if at least 75% of the juice is harvested from the state.

Texas is the site of the first vineyard established in North America by Spanish missionaries circa 1662, long before California. As European settlers followed the development of mission outposts, they brought more grapevine cuttings, further expanding the industry through the 1800s. Following prohibition, it was not until the 1970s that there was a renewed interest in winemaking in Texas.

Pictures: Austin

Today, Texas has over 4,400 acres of producing vineyard farmland. The state boasts 8 American Viticultural Areas (AVA), although many vineyards exist outside the specified AVAs. The vineyard farmland is expanding rapidly. This is partly the result of pressure on water supplies in Texas, encouraging cotton growers to switch to grapes, as the latter use only one quarter of the amount of water per acre than cotton does.

Picture: Map of Texas

There are 350 wineries in Texas, ranging from small producers who concentrate on tourism for their sales to large wineries who have developed state and, only to a very limited extent, national markets.

The Val Verde Winery in Del Rio is the longest operating winery in the state, founded in the 1880s by Frank Qualia, a Northern Italian immigrant. There were at least 20 wineries in Texas before prohibition, but only Val Verde survived.

Pictures: Fredricksburg in the Texas Hill Country

American Viticultural Areas (AVA)

Texas High Plains: Located west of Lubbock in the Panhandle at an elevation of 3000-4000 feet, the climate of this appellation is very dry. The Texas High Plains AVA grows over 80% of Texas’ wine grapes, although the state’s wineries are concentrated in the Texas Hill Country.

Texas Hill Country: Located west of Austin and San Antonio, this appellation, like Texas, is large. It is the second largest AVA in the USA. Two smaller appellations, listed below, have been designated within the Texas Hill Country due to the unique microclimates they embody. Many wineries are located in this scenic area.

Pictures: At Tasting Room of Narrow Path Winery in Fredericksburg

Bell Mountain: Designated in 1986, it is the first established AVA in Texas, covering five square acres about 15 miles north of Fredricksburg within the Texas Hill Country.

Fredricksburg: This viticultural area covers about 110 acres and is located in the Texas Hill Country

Escondido Valley: This appellation established in 1992 covers 50 square miles in Pecos County in far West Texas, located near Fort Stockton

Pictures: At Tasting Room of Fiesta Winery in Fredericksburg

Mesilla Valley: Located at the far western tip of the Texas border north and west of El Paso, this area is hot and dry with a long growing season.

Texas Davis Mountains: This west Texas appellation is cool and wet at an elevation ranging from 4,500 to 8,300 feet.

Texoma: Located in north-central Texas, this area contains approximately 3,650 square miles along the Texas-Oklahoma line.

Harvest time in Texas is normally around the end of July - 2 months earlier than in California and 3 months earlier than in Europe.

In the High Plains, where 80% of Texas grapes are grown, the near-desert humidity produces low disease pressure, although there are other problems like late-spring frosts and severe hail storms. Vitis vinifera varieties are widespread in the High Plains.

Pictures: At Tasting Room of Grape Greek Vineyards in Fredericksburg

Pictures: At Grape Greek Vineyards on the Route from Fredericksburg to Austin in Texas Hill Country

Initially in the 1970s, as far as vitis vinifera grape varieties are concerned, the focus was on grapes that had been successful in Bordeaux and in the Bourgogne, including Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Over time, the focus shifted to Rhône varieties, including Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvedre and non-French varieties, including Tempranillo, Sangiovese, Viognier and Albariño.

Virtually nobody grows Pinot Noir anymore. Chardonnay is challenging to grow because it buds out early in the season, which makes the grapes subject to late spring freezes.

In the south and east of Texas, a band of Pierce’s Disease susceptibility (a fatal bacterial disease that can affect an entire vineyard) runs from the Louisiana border down the Gulf coast to Houston. That is the area where Blanc du Bois and Lenoir plantings are most common. Blanc du Bois is a hybrid grape with Italian Muscat in its heritage. Lenoir is of American heritage.

Pictures: At Becker Vineyards on the Route from Fredericksburg to Austin in Texas Hill Country

Sparkling Wine

In terms of sparkling wines, both the charmat and the methode traditionelle are being used in the small but expanding Texas sparkling wine industry.

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Heart’s Delight is an annual four-day celebration in Washington DC, USA, bringing together winemakers, celebrity chefs, gourmands, and wine enthusiasts to raise money for the American Heart Association. It is very much Bordeaux-centered, although American winemakers also participate.

The events are not cheap, but high-class and tax deductible (partly). Over the past 14 years, the events have raised over $12 million for the American Heart Association, helping to support research into the number one cause of death in the United States.

This year, Heart’s Delight took place from Wednesday, March 9 to Saturday March 12, 2016. Unusually this year, some of the events of the first day – Wednesday - will take place almost 6 weeks after the other events, on Wednesday, April 20, 2016.

As every year, there were exciting dinners with celebrity chefs and winemakers at embassies, private homes and top restaurants, tastings, receptions, after-dinner-parties as well as auctions.

At a special side event, Annette and Christian Schiller hosted Sophie Schÿler Thierry from Château Kirwan, a second growth, which is owned by the Schÿler family, at Evo Bistro in McLean, Virginia, for lunch.

Wednesday March 9 was the United States of Wine celebration showcasing American wine. A range of American wines were presented by owners and winemakers. It included a silent and live auction featuring wine from participating winemakers and exciting trips. This was followed by a byo - style Collectors Dinner celebration.

Thursday March 10 offered a series of intimate wine dinners with an international flair in homes, restaurants and Embassies with a host, chef and winemaker at each.

One of the highlights was the luncheon at the French Embassy.

Host: His Excellency, The Ambassador of France to the United States, Gérard Araud
Sponsor: General Dynamics
Wine: Château Montrose presented by Hervé Berland
Residence of the Ambassador of France, 24 guests - US$2,000/ticket

Friday, March 11: Vintners Dinner - This year, this evening featured a retrospective of the 16 years of Vintners Dinner history, including the wines of Château Mouton Rothschild, Château Haut-Brion, Château Cheval Blanc, Château Latour and Château Margaux. The dinner was followed by a live auction led by Sotheby’s Jamie Ritchie featuring wine directly from the cellars of our friends from Bordeaux in grand format. US$ 15.000 for a table of 8.

Picture: Annette Schiller, ombiasy WineTours, and Christian Schiller at a Heart's Delight Event in 2015. Hopefully, next year we will have a German Riesling producer participating in the event.

Saturday, March 12 began with a virtual tour of Bordeaux in the afternoon, including a wine tasting of the 2013 vintage. The adventure continued with exciting seminars and food prepared by some of the nation’s top chefs, making Heart’s Delight the place to discover the latest in epicurean trends and new talent. Guests could also bid on exclusive travel packages, dining experiences and rare and exceptional wines during the spirited silent and live auctions.

Wednesday, April 20: Congress Has Heart: United States of Wine Reception - This Capitol Hill celebration will showcase some of the best in American wine and will host Members of Congress; some will be pouring wine from their home state. Special Invited Guest, Speaker Paul Ryan, will be presented with the Congress Has Heart Award. This will be followed by the New Vintage Reception for young professionals to network and learn more about the American Heart Association’s mission. These events are normally the first of the annual Heart’s Delight celebrations. This year, however, because of scheduling conflicts, these events will take place more than a month after the other events.

Auctions

During the events, there were live and silent auctions. Guests (as well as absent bidders) had the opportunity to bid on exclusive travel packages, dining experiences and rare and exceptional wines during the spirited silent and live auctions. ombiasyPR and WineTours donated a “Seven-Day Wine Tour through Germany’s Riesling Country”.

Picture: Kaub in the Mittelrhein Valley with the Castles Pfalzgrafenstein and Burg Gutenfels

This seven-day tour (May 5-11, 2016) lets you explore the regions that are quintessential to understand Riesling and the concept of terroir: The Rheingau, Mittelrhein, Ahr, Mosel, and Nahe wine regions. You will visit many picturesque wine towns and take a cruise on the romantic Rhine River with its castle- and vine-ribboned bank; the Mosel valley with its dizzying steep vineyards; delving into 2,000 years of history and tasting premium wines at 16 world-class wine estates, such as J.J. Prüm, Leitz, Molitor, Zilliken, and Meyer-Näkel. The tour starts and ends in Frankfurt am Main. You will travel with the husband and wife team Dr. Christian Schiller, wine writer, and Annette Schiller, organizer of wine classes, wine tours, and wine events. Their expert knowledge about German wines and their personal relationships with the wine estate owners and winemakers will give you an unparalleled, personal, and authentic experience and an inside view behind the scenes of premium German wineries.

Spot for 1 person. Flight to and from Frankfurt is not included in the tour. Six nights accommodation, transport in the wine regions, all visits and sightseeing, all wine tastings, and meals are included

Wine Tours

About Me

I live in the greater Washington DC (US) and Frankfurt am Main (Germany) areas and write about wine. I am a member of the FIJEV (International Federation of Wine and Spirits Journalists and Writers). Before starting to write about wine in 2009, I was for almost 30 years an economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). I am currently in Washington DC.